World trade fell at the end of last year as imports to and exports from China plummeted, a sign that higher tariffs and the threat of more to come are cooling global economic growth.
The figures showed that late last year, U.S. efforts to revamp its trade relationships were increasingly disrupting the global trading system and the cross-border production lines that businesses have built over recent decades.
Data released on Monday by the CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis indicated that the total volume of goods moving across borders increased 3.3% in 2018, a slowdown from the 4.7% rise recorded in 2017.